


Hoarding Memories

by GeckoGirl89



Series: Friends (TV) Drabbles [19]
Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Angst, Breakup, Drabble, Episode Tag, Episode: s10e03 The One With Ross's Tan, F/M, Heartbreak, Poignant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 06:10:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8316769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeckoGirl89/pseuds/GeckoGirl89
Summary: Joey imagined his relationship with Rachel lasting forever. Instead, it barely lasts a week.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt on the 100 Words community on Imzy (https://www.imzy.com/100words/): **Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.** (Haruki Murakami, _Kafka on the Shore_ )
> 
> I cried while watching the episode for this drabble. I really wish Joey and Rachel had stayed together, and their breakup hurts so much because they were torn apart by an obstacle the writers introduced and not because they had organic issues as a couple or stopped loving each other. I'm really annoyed at how the following episodes had Joey acting as if nothing had happened, so I wanted to explore the emotions he wasn't allowed to display on the show.

Joey imagined his relationship with Rachel lasting forever. Instead, it barely lasts a week.

Joey never thought issues with physical intimacy could ruin them. Ironically, his “relationships” with other women usually featured sex without emotional attachment.

Rachel is the only woman he’s ever loved, and Joey knows he will never stop loving her. Their fond goodbye on the couch only confirms this truth.

The next day, he pretends the breakup isn’t tearing him apart. He hoards the memories of their brief time together like the beautiful treasures they are and ignores the ache of longing he feels, for her sake.


End file.
